Wheat-free in Europe

[Bob Niland (Boundless)]

> I've decided d. mt. dew really IS bad for me, ...

Pop culture has it that their slogan should have been "all the sugar and twice the caffeine".

The troubling ingredients are:

• the sugars, which are usually HFCS or free glucose + free fructose
  dose starts (12 oz. can) at 31 grams, or just over 2/3 the WB full day limit for all of your net carbs
• if drinking from a can, Bpa in the liner plus needless elemental aluminum exposure at the top
• BVO, which may be banned in many places, but isn't in the US (PUFA + bromine)
• food coloring Yellow 5
• "natural flavors", which is a legal alias for all sorts of toxins that they don't have to disclose

[Loanne]

Thank you for the kind words...you could just as easily have said "What?  You're still drinking that crap?"  <smirk>  And printing your comments, Boundless, to read when I feel a weak moment coming on.

[Redhead65]

@Jan
My colleague, who sent me to that Chiropractic, also takes colloidal silver. I have to ask him about it.

@deanna
Thanks for your posting. You used all those words in English where I had  wondered how to say that in English (before I opened this page). My case seems to be similar. He said I am out on 4 and twisted on 3, and he said "no wonder you feel dizzy". He did not talk about magnesium (he in fact barely talked LOL), but the nurse at the company "hospital" had also given me magnesium. I will buy magnesium on the weekend.
I dislike donut cushions very much. Don't know why. My colleague has one, and I have to put it away every time I have to sit at her place.

@all
Tomorrow I have to go for a checkup. The treatment itself did not hurt. He told me not to drive the car the first 30 min. after having gotten out of his office. Well, I felt more dizzy than ever, but after 30 min. it went back to normal. I can walk faster with more confidence now. I still feel a bit dizzy, but I know I can stand on my feet. I am no longer scared to fall down. And I know that things take time. During the day I could feel that something was working inside my body all the time. After dinner I lay down on the sofa and fell asleep immediately.

In the evening I ate basic bread (WB), cheese and salami. I felt too tired to cook. Talking about this bread:
I think in future I will not again buy a book in German that had previously been published in English. Too many Germans complain about translation errors in the books. The WB bread recipe has no fluid in the recipe - only eggs. I always add fluid, and it works. With only the eggs I could not stirr the dough.
Which ingredients does the American recipe list for the basic bread?

On the weekend I am going out of town. I am going to Munich - which is my most favorite city in Germany. Have not been there for half a year. I am going by overland bus. During winter I do not like to do long distances by car. The bus is clean, cheap, spaceous and punctual.

[BarbinNC]

Hallo Andrea - hope you're feeling better, and Kudos to you for staying on track all this time!  Isn't it wonderful?  My daughter has also been doing a great job getting back in Ketosis, and has lost quite a bit since the holidays .. we all went a little Cookoo for a while, with Stollen and Lebkuchen, and Gluehwein.      Aldi has all that nice stuff from Germany, and I have to admit, we are sentimental fools, but now that's over and we paid the price.


More later, just a quick wave and Tschuess for now!

[Redhead65]

@Barbara
I hope you made the Glühwein yourself. You will find recipes on www.kochbar.de or on www.chefkoch.de.
Good luck and good nerves for your remaining working weeks. In Germany the company either has to grant the vacation or to give the money. In companies with a works council usually the vacation has to be granted.

@all
I still feel a bit dizzy. The nights from Friday till Sunday I slept 50 per cent longer, and since then I feel that I have given my body the desired extra rest it needed as a consequence of what the chiropractic triggered.
On the weekend I went to a sale, and the shop owner told me she had the same problem (prolonged dizzyness). We compared our treatments.

My nutrion in Munich has not been the optimum. I had a spelt sandwhich for breakfast. I was staying in an apartment complex where no breakfast was served. There was one store that was so run down that Aldi looks like a luxury place compared to that. In the evening I went downtown and had Thai food with lots of veggies and organic meat. That was the first time I saw a Thai place offering organic meat.

I also went shopping at Dallmayr's downtown and bought fantastic cheese and salami from Italy (air-dried salami).

At the clothing super sale (my annual  festival day - LOL).....among other things  ....*chough* .....I finally found a parka that has no polyester lining. In fact it is an experiment of the designer (there were only 3 pieces available....each llooking different). I took the parka without the hood, because I almost never use a hood, and that hood was oversized and had a real fur rim on 3 models. I do not want to wear real fur, also no imitation fur.....
It is really neat. I can remove the lining, and like this I can wear the parka almost year around. Around the collar there are huge black press buttons, because this is where the hood was. The buttons at least have the size of thumb finger nails.

Today I am back to gluten-free. Last night I cooked some veggies in cream sauce, which I will eat today. And I have sausages from the farmers' market.

By the way, on my way back home in the overland bus I talked with a young lady all the time. She was VERY interested in wheat belly and noted down all kinds of things and links and names, and she was the one asking questions all the time She asked me how I make the basic bread and all.

[BarbinNC]

Hallo Andrea - no, didn't make myself, drank that sweet mess they sell as the stuff here at Aldi.  Not even all that good, so easy to let go!


The labor laws are not comparable to the German laws, that's for sure.  We have a German working with us for the next 6 moths, he loves to talk, and mentioned that the salaried people get their vacation paid out to them, and also over time is added to their vacation allotment!!  That is not the case here, we are step children in our company.


I wish i could be in Munich with you, just thinking about it brings memories of smells, sounds, emotions … isn't that weird?  Your descriptions are very real to me, like the little store that is so run down .. I've seen those in Munich, my grandmother lived in Sendling, on top of one of those stores.  I forget the name, but she was in the Schmied Kochel Strasse, right next to Theresienwiese where the Oktoberfest takes place.  We would always park at her house and walk to the festival.  Fun times!


Hope you feel better soon, I have more energy already, not eating sugar and what this long weekend.  I stayed with Mutti, because her back is hurting, she had a pinched nerve, and can't get around well, so couldn't come to stay with me,  so I gave my sister a break, and slept over with her.  I am so grateful to my sister, she has way more patience than I do, and has been with her all week. 


Gotta run, it's nice to be back! 

[Redhead65]

@Barbara
The labor laws are better here - that is right - but this thing about the holidays and all is no longer that common - at least not in the big companies where the works council has a say. Where I work, the people have to take their vacation of the current year by the end of March of the following year. Not everybody gets overtime money (I never do). I had to grin that the works council now declined all of the overtime for February. I am so fed up with people playing lazy and getting overtime money. 2/3 of those who get overtime money in my department do not need it. So often I see people stand in the coffee corner for an hour, or they read the net every time I pass their desk.

Today I feel worse than yesterday. A repair guy came into the office, and I had to supervise him. He really was very clumsy, and so I was given the run-around. I should have delegated that - I did not put my foot down. It was my fault.

What you say about Munich, makes sense. I do not think at all that this sounds weird.

[Redhead65]

@all
Today I brought some things for my Italian friend, but it was a case of bad luck. She had to run home early and I did not get out of the office. So I hope I will be able to give the stuff to her tomorrow after work and after physical therapy. Otherwise it has to be next week.

Today I had some leftover veggies from yesterday and supplemented those with grated raw vegetables and good oil and a pair of organic sausages.
I was satiated and had no problem. In the evening I went to the organic store and bought - among other things - unsweetened almond milk. The milk had been on sale last week (nearl 20 per cent less), but when they saw me they said "You will still get it for last week's price."

[Redhead65]

I finally had to leave the stuff in her office. The same day I had trouble walking and the next day I had to leave before her late shift started. Her puzzled Greek colleague asked me who I am. She wants the Italian to eat wheat all the time. ;-) So I smiled politely and said "I just want to leave some grain-free foodstuff for Liljana here. We do not eat grains."

Today I finally had it with my burping, and I went to a gastroenerologist. He was very kind and thorough - spent over an hour on me. He took my blood and said he wanted to test for celiac disease although he assumes that the blood test might not work since I already changed my eating a while ago. He did an ultrasound of my abdomen and could not find anything except my gall bladder shows sand .....like the prestage of gallstones. I asked him whether eating bitter things helps, but honestly I am not sure what he said. I was so exhausted from doctors today. In the forenoon I had my eye background check. I got some drops that enlarged my pupils and she looked into the eye background. The assitant made me pass an eye test, and I had zero mistakes.

The gasto....you know what I mean wants to test me for allergies. There are several breathing tests. The first one will be next week. In the end we probably have to do a gastroscopy, but first we will do one breathing test after the other. There are 3 or 4.

[Rita]

Today I finally had it with my burping

Some digestive enzymes might help with that.

He did an ultrasound of my abdomen and could not find anything except my gall bladder shows sand .....like the prestage of gallstones. I asked him whether eating bitter things helps, but honestly I am not sure what he said. I was so exhausted from doctors today.

I wrote an article about gallstones that might be helpful.  See here.

[BarbinNC]

I hope you feel better soon, Red - haven't got much advice but do read the article that Rita wrote, it's got some great info!!

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Redhead,


My 2 cents!:


Burping often happens when your production of hydrochloric acid is not able to digest proteins.  You might need to supplement HCL, taken a few minutes prior to eating.  It could be a general mineral depletion that is causing your symptoms, like zinc and magnesium.  This is discussed in Primal Body- Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas. 

[BarbinNC]

I have that book but haven't read it … hear it's really good!  Another thing on my bucket list   She also has a website, I think, with good info.  Have to check that out.

[Redhead65]

Redhead,


My 2 cents!:


Burping often happens when your production of hydrochloric acid is not able to digest proteins.  You might need to supplement HCL, taken a few minutes prior to eating.  It could be a general mineral depletion that is causing your symptoms, like zinc and magnesium.  This is discussed in Primal Body- Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas.

At first I did not know what HCL means. The pharmacist said "hydrochloric acid". Hmmm.....on the weekend I once took a medicine that binds excess hydrochloric acid, and then I felt a bit better. The only reason why I did not keep taking it is that that stuff contains aluminum.
I will get a coloscopy and a gastroscopy done on February 17, and once I have a clear picture of what the matter is, I will get my blood levels checked ...for example the Vitamin D level and others...for example those suggested by you, depending on what I pay per checkup. Those checkups are not paid by the sickness insurance.

[Redhead65]

@Rita
Thanks for this article. I still have to work thru this with the help of the dictionary. Normally I can read English texts, but in your article there are quite a number of words I have never dealt with before. I may then have one or the other question, but I guess this will only happen next weekend. Right now I am in the survival mode because of stress in the office, and all I can manage is not eat grains.

Probiotics - yes, I definitely need to start those. Meanwhile I also found out which brands are good in Germany. But what confuses me is that Dr. Davis uses the unit "stems" to express how much we have to take. On the German products it neither says stems nor any possible translation of it. I just have to do more reading.

@all
Yesterday I went to my gastroenterologist and he performed a breathing test on me to figure out whether I have a certain bacteria in the gutt that does not belong there. Heliobacter. I had to abstain from food and drinking since midnight, and I had to NOT brush my teeth, and then I first had to breathe into a bag. Afterwards the assistant put some medicin into my yoghurt, and I had to eat the yoghurt, wait for half an hour and then breathe. The lab result is expected next Monday, also the blood test result on celiac disease. He took the blood although he told me that this often does not work out, especially if I have avoided grains for some time, but he at least wanted to try it.

On 17th I will then get done what is described above.  After this I will start with probiotics. The good thing is that this doctor takes time with patients, and he was quite interested in hearing about wheat belly and all.

Yesterday my boss brought prezels for the whole office. He had forgotten again that I am not eating, so he said "have one". I crossed my fingers and grinned and said "they are no no for me, but thanks - the effort also counts". Then he laughed. I had some basic bread and goat cheese in the kitchen, and that was fine for me.

[Redhead65]

Today I went into the cafeteria with a colleague. It was the first time since the beginning of my journey. He is Italian and from another department, and I was hoping to be able to network. We have an office that arranges lunch meetings between people who do not know each other (no dating!!). I had hoped that maybe he has an Italian wife who likes to learn German. Then she could help me improve my Italian.
He is a nice guy but terribly busy (the fourth child is coming), and his wife is French and has no interest in learning German. But I was pleased to see that it works quite well when I speak Italian, and his German was really good.

I think tomorrow I will try to find out who gives German lessons in our company. I will try to find that teacher and then ask her whether she sees anybody as a study tandem partner for me.

At the cafeteria I had a joghurt and a mixed salad, but I talked more than I ate, and so I had quite a bit of bread (grain free) with cheese for dinner. After that I cooked a pan full of mixed veggies.

Today I put coconut flour into the basic bread. This time I used flour from a different supplier, and the coconut flour had a lovely and fresh smell. I think I am going to change the supplier.

Today I did not manage to meet Liliana.  She was on strike, so she did not come into the company. It was a warning strike. I did not participate. I am not in the union.

[Redhead65]

Redhead,


My 2 cents!:


Burping often happens when your production of hydrochloric acid is not able to digest proteins.  You might need to supplement HCL, taken a few minutes prior to eating.  It could be a general mineral depletion that is causing your symptoms, like zinc and magnesium.  This is discussed in Primal Body- Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas.

I am not sure whether I understand: HCL is hydrochloric acid, right?
This book you mention sounds like a very good recommendation. I have put it on my wish list at Amazon and will order it at the end of the month.

I have started supplementing zinc - 15 mg a day. Magnesium I have started taking recently (300 mg in the evening), but I am not sure whether it makes sense to take that long-term without getting the bloodwork checked.
As far as bloodwork is concerened - no sickness insurance will pay the checking of minerals, and I am planning to get vitamin D checked but overall have to keep an eye on the costs.

The magneisum I bought contains 20 portions. It is magensium citrate in granular form.

[Redhead65]

@Rita
Finally I worked thru your article with the help of a dictionary. Quite a portion of the advice I am already following (but I am new on that path).
After having read your article, I bought probiotics
http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-270517-pure-encapsulations-probiotic-gi-60-capsules
(I did not buy them at this store but in Germany at a pharmacy - however, I wanted to post an English description)
I am drinking dandelion tea and I ordered taurin (also from pure encapsulations - I just love this brand).

[Redhead65]

My procedure (gastroscopy and colonoscopy) was done on Tuesday. It was really hard for me to stay without food for 24 hours. Actually my period was longer. I already had to skip lunch, and my breakfast was very light. On the day before the procedure I was stuck in the hospital waiting to get my bandage changed, and when I got out of the hospital, it was 13.30 hrs, and I was only allowed to eat till 12.30.
The doctor took a few samples during the procedures and has sent them to the lab.

I am home on sick leave right now because I had a kitchen accident resulting in second degree burnings. I had a case of boiling delay when trying to warm up a glass of almond milk. I took the milk off the stove when I noticed the slightest movement on the surface, but after at least 30 seconds away from the stove the milk shot out of the pot like an explosion and spilled over my hands and all over the place. It was a nightmare for me. Even now I get nervous when I have to put a white fluid in a pot on the stove, and I stir it every few seconds, since I have read that this reduces the risk.
Previously I had thought that if nothing is in a liquid....nothing that can stick to the ground....then I do not need to stir.

The skin came off. I have a special bandage now that is supposed to help me until new skin grows. That tiny peace of "bandaid" costs 120 USD the doctor said.  .
Washing dishes is very complicated now. I use plastic bags for many things, and I do many things left-handed.

Tomorrow, when I get my bandage changed again, I will be able to buy grass-fed meat at the hospital. No kidding. The hosptial is run by nuns, and they have grass-fed animals and a butcher on the convent ground - so the animals do not have to suffer long transportation. In fact the butcher comes to the animals.
I also ordered eggs. Somehow I had completely forgotten this shopping opportunity. The butcher truck comes to the hospital twice a week to sell stuff. The only problem is that the butcher leaves at 2.30 p.m. and I normally need one hour from my job to the butcher, but with a little bit of goodwill I could probably work that out once or twice a month.

Anyway, I am glad that I can finally type again. With a bandaged right thumb it is not easy.

[BarbinNC]

Oh you poor thing, that sounds so painful!  I had never heard of hot milk jumping out of a pot, you just never know in life, from one moment to the next, do you! 


But _ Glueck im Unglueck - you found the butcher in the convent again, so at least something good came from it all.


Hope you feel better soon, just checking in before work, gotta run, but soon, soon I will be free!!!


Gute Besserung!!!   

[Redhead65]

I had also never heard of this phenomenon before it happened to me.

[Redhead65]

Tomorrow I am back at work. The wound has roughly healed. The skin is very pink and thin still - so I have to be careful.

I think I have to throw out my handbag. I washed it a second time, and I had thought that the oil comes off, but it does not. The bag is dark beige - and it used to get some spots (like a patina), so before I had washed it, the oil spot sort of looked okay - now all the patina signs are gone, and the oil spot looks strange.

Today I did not have the necessary discipline in the kitchen, and I ate something ready-made from the organic store. I was pretty fed up when I got out of the hospital. The good thing is that I found mangold and will cook that tomorrow.

Today I ordered new nut flours, vinegars, coconut oil and coconut pulp. And I drove to a nearby mill and bought almond oil, linseed oil and walnuts (all organic). I did not like the nearby milll that much. The one where I order from offers so much more, partly also at better prices, and their entire product range is organic - not just a few items. On the way home I discovered a problem with my car. The display used to show 3 things, and it now only shows two. I hope that not the entire control unit has to be changed, but my optimism is sinking.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Redhead,


Can you use leather polish or oil on your handbag?  I used to use that on my favorite pair of leather boots.  Worked like a charm to remove the water/slush and salt stains.  If you have a local shoemaker, he will be able to provide some advice. 


 

[Redhead65]

Barbara,
you mean you used to use regular oil on leather items? Then at least the whole handbag would have the same color. 
The shoemaker I used to go to for 15 years retired recently. I have to find out where there is a real shoemaker exists. These days there are so few real shoe makers. We have a lot of these chain stores were unskilled people glue heels to your shoes. Don't know whether you have the same problem in the States.

[Barbara from New Jersey]

Redhead,

Neatsfoot Oil, Mink Oil or Saddle Soap are the oils you should use.  A small container is very inexpensive and lasts a long time.  You can check Amazon for some local brands. Sports and hobby shops will carry this as well. I would use terms like leather oils, leather conditioners or baseball glove oil in your search engine to find brand names.  These products condition leather to keep the article supple and waterproof.  Baseball gloves, saddles and riding boots are regularly conditioned with these products, or at least they used to be!

It certainly is worth a try for a good leather product.  Many years ago I had a pair of favorite leather boots that I kept looking wonderful for years using the oils or soaps for leather.  When the upper leather got too thin to re-sole I had to discard them.  It was like losing an old friend.   

[Redhead65]

@Barbara
Okay, now I got it. I know what you mean and where I can buy this tomorrow. I should have figured myself that you mean shoecare products and not regular oil.
You are right thattrying to save good leather is worth a try. Years ago I had light blue suede shoes from Italy. The sole was incredible. I could walk for hours and hours. After a good while, the color looked very messy. I thought I would have to discard them but the shoemaker (that one who unfortunately went into retirement) said he would color them black and then they would turn into smooth leather shoes. He did and I was able to wear them much longer.

@all
Yesterday we had a birthday party in the office. I ate cheese and a piece of meat. Everything else was off limits (wheat buns, lots of cakes...). When I saw the cake buffet I sighed a little bit, but it was clear to me that I was not going to give in. I was so busy talking with other people that in the end I did not care.

When I baked my most recent version of the basic bread (WB), I did not add fluid (which is also not included in the recipe), and that was not a good idea. The bread is too dry, and it irritates my throat and makes me cough. Today I put a more than generous helping of coconut oil on it, but it did not help. I guess it has to go. On the weekend I will make a new one and will stick to what has worked well before.


In future I will better stick to

[Redhead65]

@Barbara
I just noticed that Amazon has already given me the money for the books I had sent in - so just now I bought 2 new books. One of them is the one you had recommended - Primal Body Primal Mind.

@all
Yesterday I continued going thru my belongings and asking myself what I actually still need. The result is that I threw out some more things and discovered a pile of DVDs that I will sell to Amazon now.

[Redhead65]

Sorry, I have not shown myself for a few days. It was stressful to get back to work after my kitchen accident. There was so much work on my desk. During the week I did not have the discipline to cook beforehand on 3 working days of this week, so once I had a piece of sheep feta with WB bread and twice I had an organic salad from the store (the list of ingredients was understandable and not too long). But I cooked in the evening or at least made a big salad out of different raw things. Beats me, why, but somehow I never cooked enough to have a portion for the following day. Next week I want to do better, so today I prepared organic salmon and three types of vegetables.

My hand is doing okay, circumstances given. I put almond oil or coconut oil (more often the latter) on the wound every day several times, and sometimes I also use aloe vera. A colleague gave me some leafs from his plants, and he also gave me a baby plant so that I can grow my own.

Today is the first day where I get lots of things done around the house, but I would normally need another day like that. The weather is nice, we had lots of sunshine, but if I had gone outside, I would not have gotten anything done.

I visited my Italian colleague twice this week. She told me that now her family overall eats less gluten because they are so super keen on stealing her food  , and they pay her compliments for the delicious new things she tries out. That is really cool.
And one of my colleagues is going to bake something that I can eat. She specially came to me to inquire and said she wanted to make something that enables me to eat with everyone. Very nice.

My burping has almost gone away since I started taking probiotics. I maybe only burp 2-4 times when I eat salami - so I noticed - but apart from that I practically do not burp. But the salami causes it every time. I tested it out. It was no coincidence.
I am not saying that it was only the salami that caused it. It sometimes also happened in conjunction with other foods, but with salami it happened every time (organic salami, supposedly air-dried and free from pickling salt).

[Redhead65]

I am cooking lots of veggies these days. Yesterday I ate mixed salad for breakfast.  I added coconut pulp and oil, but somehow it did not satiate me enough. Maybe I should have added some cheese cubes.

I learnt that I can never read enough lables. I buy organic spices from a manufacturer that does not add any separating material, and a long list of their spices are listed in the "List of gluten-free foods" of the celiac society. I should better have checked whether all of them are safe.
One spice contains raw cocolate and it said something about coffee on the front of the spice tin. So I innocently had assumed that we are talking about a few crushed and roasted coffee beans.  Now I read the detailled listing on the back, and it says "rhye coffee". I threw it out immediately. This was a lesson for me. I need to read everything, even when I do not suspect anything.

[Lynda (Fl)]

Rhye coffee?  I had to look that one up and I'm still not sure I know what it is!  They put some strange stuff in our food.

[deanna in AR]

Lynda, I looked it up too and didn't learn anything??

[Redhead65]

This fake coffee came about in Germany in the post-war time when coffee was a rare commodity. THe brand that still is popular today consits of rhye, coffeeweed, malt and barley, but apparently the manufacturer of these organic spices found a fake coffee made from rhye alone.
This fake coffee is frequently given to children even today. Or sometimes people who have stomach problems and cannot drink coffee - they resort to this.

My household really needs my attention this weekend. I got up early, as usualy, and I am busy ironing clothes. I ate leftover veggies for breakfast. What I had cooked is called Superschmelzkohlrabi. Kohlrabi also seems to exist in the English language, and I have read about Superschmelz in English texts. It is an ancient type of kohlrabi, and it is very big. The one I bought weighed nearly 4 pounds.

Sometimes when I leave work and I am too hungry, I eat a few raw nuts on the way home, but that does not always help. A colleague now mentioned a trick that really works for me. When I feel ravingly hungry, I start eating, and then I get up and maybe wash a few plates, and then I sit down again, and after a brief period I get up again and do some chores. This way I feel my satiating point, and I do not stuff myself up.

I take my probiotics and my taurin every day, and the burping is gone. 

[Lynda (Fl)]

Very interesting, Redhead.  It sounds a bit like the old Postum from my childhood.  It was a grain based coffee substitute, too.

[Redhead65]

Yes, it is.
This is the brand popular in Germany:
http://www.amazon.com/Nestle-Caro-Instant-Natural-Beverage/dp/B0012PW24Y/ref=pd_sim_gro_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=1H17H4HJ5J48KSRSFE51

Today I went out to attend the annual museums' night. The museums are open till midnight. You probably think now "What's the issue? Here things are open around the clock." but not here. One friend ate a wheat sandwich. I did not care to eat anything. I had eaten plenty of salad and some salami before I went out.

Today I started preparing the nomato sauce I want to make tomorrow.

[Redhead65]

The nomato sauce really turned out amazingly red. I am glad that I had precooked veggies for another portion of sauce. That portion is in the freezer now and will safe me time next time.

A colleague who comes from the State of Brandenburg (where they have a high rate of free-rage animals) wanted to bring meet for me. He forgot it and had a guilty conscience, but I said "don't worry". He is going home again next weekend. I still have organic fish in my freezer, and I want to empty my freezer. If he now does not bring meat again, I will make another trip to the aforementioned butcher working for the nuns.

Yesterday I had Bratwurst from the organic butcher near where I work. He has found a way to produce things without pickling salt by coloring the meat with home-cooked vegetable soup. I assume he then also mixes something orange colored and something lilac to achieve a red like I did for the nomato sauce.
With the Bratwurst I ate this cauliflower:
http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://images.fotocommunity.de/bilder/pflanzen-pilze-flechten/kuechenkrautpflanzen/lila-blumenkohl-4857ca91-78e3-4f57-9308-6a763aa10e9b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/25835071&h=667&w=1000&tbnid=6JdXIXloXG2bsM:&zoom=1&tbnh=90&tbnw=135&usg=__ssEJDE2YnGXdbvbmsvGgwCLPIxY=&docid=7lh0nZ6GTvdLtM&sa=X&ei=i-4IVYXFH8edPbC-gIAM&ved=0CCQQ9QEwAA
It is always from Italy, but you can buy it at some places here, too.

Before I end up eating rubbish in the office one day, I bought a glass of coconut pulp, which I am going to keep in the office.

[deanna in AR]

Wow! That cauli is beautiful!!!

[Lynda (Fl)]

That's the prettiest vegetable I've ever seen.

[Redhead65]

I agree with you. In future I will try to buy this type more often. It seems to contain something that the white one does not. I just do not have the time right now to look up the words in the dictionary. I need to rush into the office.

Yesterday I attended another cooking class at my employer's cafeteria kitchen. That is a chance I have once or twice a year. We prepared asparagus salad with a dip made of plenty of cream, a 3-layer terrine along the side. The main course was lamb filet, potatoes, fresh spinach and a sauce that we simmered for 4 hours. the desert consisted of tiny marzipane pear pies with nuts.
I managed to keep everything gluten-free, because when the others put puff pastry around their piece of filet, mine remained naked. Everything  was slow-roasted in the oven. The sauce was free of binding agents.  After 4 hours of simmering you need nothing of that.
Since I did not want to skp desert, they put just the marzipane filling and the fruits into a pie crust and left out the pastry, and I must say it turned out perfectly. The marzipane developed a little crust on the outside.

We had a wonderful evening.

One of the things I learnt is this: I had so far only bought green asparagus during the main season, and then it is not necessary to peel it. The cook told us that in the upper class kitchen (haute cuisine I think the French say - with the special sign on top of the A) one always peels the green asparagus, and in the early seoson we should also do that, because green asparagus often is a bit stringy at that time.

[Lynda (Fl)]

The menu at your cooking class is certainly a nice one, Redhead.

[Redhead65]

Yeah, Linda, ist sounds nice, but looking back I should not have eaten the desert. For up to several days after that I started drewling again at candy when I went shopping.  I managed to not buy the candy (once admittedly I put something into my shopping cart, but I managed to put it back into the shelf), but it was hard for me, and it used to be easy for me when I avoided sugar loads. This is really an addiction.

Two days ago I went out in the evening, and this time I had prepared myself well. I took two pieces of WB bread and a sufficent amount of cheese with me to the office, and before I went downtown to my evening event from there, I ate my meal-to-go. So when I was in town, I had no desire to eat, not even after the evening event when everybody went to a restaurant.

Last weekend my former neighbours visited me. I prepared a meat sauce (Bolognese) and a huge colorful salad bowl.  For them I made noodles in addition, and I gave them the leftovers to take home. I was too lazy to make zucchini noodles for myself, but I just ate more salad, and it was fine. We had low carb cookies (from walnut flower and coconut flower) as desert.

This weekend I definitely want to make broth again. Bones bought at the organic butcher are already in the fridge.

[Redhead65]

Yesterday I ate grilled pork filet with zucchini salad. I prepare the dressing at home with a generous helping of good oil, and I grate the zucchinis in the office at lunch break, using my beloved Microplane.
It is really so much easier to keep the carb levels low. I had breakfast at 6 a.m. (I am an early riser), I had lunch at 1:30 p.m., and I did not even have an issue with hunger.

The meat was from the convent butcher (who sells meat in front of the convent-owned hosptial twice a week), and it was really fantastic - very tender, no "leaking" water.

I made my bone broth last weekend, and it turned out nice.

Yesterday my colleague came back from his home leave. He comes from a State where you find a lot of grass-fed meat. He brought meat for me. It is in the freezer now. He goes home sort of regularly, so I could get my meat thru him more often.
Last time I had ordered meat was when I burned my hand on the weekend, so then he ended up having to eat the meat. But he had no issues with it - he loves eating tons of meat. 

[Rita]

How have you been feeling lately?

[Redhead65]

@Rita
Thanks for asking. I feel okay, but this week has been pretty exhausting emotionally. My ex boss (whom I used to work for until the end of last year) died of esophageal cancer. He had neither drunk nor smoked cigarettes. Over the months I had talked with him on the phone occasionally and more often with his wife in the latter phase when he was not in a position to talk much anymore.

Now I am off work for four days, because Friday and Monday are public holidays in Germany. I need this time at home because there are many things I have to catch up on like dusting, sorting out things.

I ordered new supplies of coconut oil and vinegar, and I found a small family run mill not so far away from my home. It is too far away to just drive there, but buying there still counts as "supporting the local economy". ;-) That mill sells macademia flour. I am really looking forward to knowing how that tastes.
The advantage of macademia nuts is that they have as much omega 3 as omega 6. And they sell macademia plup - something that I had never seen at an organic store or online before.

[Rita]

Sorry to hear about your ex-boss.  You'll have to let us know what you do with the macadamia pulp.

[Redhead65]

@Rita
I want to use the pulp as bread spread or maybe eat 1-2 spoons full as a small snack. Since the pulp is still in raw quality, I want to consume it in that form. The mill owner said it would have the same consistency as coconut pulp.

@all
Since I had that incident the other day where I used a spice not considering that it might be contaminated, I have had two incidents where I dreamed that I was eating wheat bread and only realized what I was doing when half of the bread was eaten. Then I woke up and was so grateful that it was only a dream.
And I could not get back to sleep for half an hour or so. Has anybody else had such dreams?

On Tuesday of this week one of my colleagues baked a gluten-free Zupfkuchen. It tasted excellent. I am going to get the recipe and make it WB-compliant.
This is a recipe in English - just so that you get the idea:
http://chocoholicfrolics.blogspot.de/2008/09/russian-pulling-cake-russischer.html
The picture, however, looks disappetizing. Here are nicer pictures
http://www.pfalzgraf-konditorei.de/sortiment/produkte/obstkuchen/russischer-zupfkuchen.html
https://speisereise.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/russischer-zupfkuchen-vom-blech/

[BarbinNC]

Hi Andy - sounds like you're doing really well, so happy about that!  The cake looks amazing, pretty much like a cheesecake with a chocolate bottom, could use pecan meal or other nuts, with cocoa or melted chocolate.  And instead of Quark, I usually use a mixture of cream cheese and sour cream, it's almost impossible to find fresh quark in the US, at least down South. 


I haven't had dreams about eating wheat … but when I stopped smoking (it was 35 years ago, I smoked for 5 years, from 20 to 25 …) I had those dreams, and they are scary real … it always took me a while to figure out was it real or a dream … hope that ends soon, I guess it's a subconscious fear of falling off the wagon, because it would be so easy to give in, sometimes … they do make it harder in Germany, I have to admit the bread there is something I can never stay away from.  Much easier in the US, and I'm very happy with the bread I bake with the coconut flour or almond flour, or even with the cashew or almond butter, that one is just super easy and I might make some for today's meal.  Just to have some variety, and there are wheat eaters coming to the dinner, that way we all feel happy.


Frohe Ostern!!!   

[Redhead65]

@BarbNC
Yeah, bread certainly is a bigger temptation here in Germany than in the US. I am glad you remember that. 
I agree with you about the reason for my dream. This dream does not happen often, but it happens when I either failed to see something (like the other day with that organic spice), and I reproach myself for not having looked closer or when I discover something in the last minute, and I was at firat templed not to look closer. Then I usually reproach myself  "you should really know better by now that you always need to look closer....if you do not shape up, you will wheat yourself".  I am my own strict judge. 

@all
Yesterday I prepared two beef filet steaks from the convent butcher. The meat was heavenly. The second steak I will eat at the office today.
I baked a flour-free nut cake with full-fat cream. At the end I added a sip of Marc de Champagne. It tasted heavenly. Everything is gone already.
And I made another bread.
The eggs I had this morning were from chicken that only eat fresh herbs.

Something really annoying (and hopefully not too costly) happened to me with my washer. I need to get a repair guy. I wlll go into more detail tonight.

By the way, how long does bone broth last in the fridge?

[Redhead65]

I am just eating freshly baked WB bread with newly delivered macademia pulp. I have added grated zucchini and mediterranean herbs to the bread.

The local organic butcher told me that he only uses spice mixtures that he has mixed himself, and I found out that he is also smoking fish. At first I had assumed that he only serves the smoked fish that I see in the store and that probably the fish gets smoked somewhere else, but I was wrong. He  does not sell anything that someone outside the store has prepared, and I can order any fish I want. This week I am having the best smoked salmon of my life, and for next Saturday I have ordered smoked trout.

Does anybody have a good idea as to how I can remove oil stains from clothing? Putting a lot of laundry soap on that spot and let it soak for a while does not always work.

[Redhead65]

My zucchini bread maybe tasted good when it got out of the oven, but now I think it is time to say good-bye to the leftovers. About 1/4 is left, and I noticed that in the center it is a bit damp.

This is where I ordered my macademia pulp and all these things:
http://www.oelmanufaktur-bender.de/
I know you cannot read the stuff (except for BarbNC), but you can see that the pictures are very nice. They extract all their products using minimal heat so that the products are still classified as "raw", and they do not use any coloring or additives.

I have visited my Italian colleague twice this week. Friday I will probably visit her again. Lately I had neglected her a bit and got carried away in the stress of what I had to regulated after my late boss had passed away.

She told me she had eated gluten a few times, and her gums started getting sore. When I showed up, she felt reminded of her goals. Yesterday I asked her "have we eaten any gluten?"  She laughed and assured me she had not and  said it helped her if I said things like that.

Yesterday for lunch I did not manage to stay low carb. It was a stupid situation. In the morning I was already out of the door when the telephone rang. So curiosity got the better of me, and I picked up the phone. My physical therapist was ill, and since I have no mobile right now and do not want them to know in the office where my appointment is, she called me at home. Normally I always have something in the fridge that could serve as an emergency lunch. Not this time. So I decided to eat at the company cafeteria. Almost everything was with gluten (fortunately they have to declare that now due to a change in the law early in 2015), and I had to eat something . Normally when I go to the physical therapy, I eat Weisswurst and eggs at the hospital cafeteria. This is a high fat sausage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weisswurst

I did not eat again until in the evening when I got home. Then I prepared stir-fried vegetables, and I ate organic smoked salmon. I prepared two big portions of vegetables, and the fish was big enough for 2 meals, so this is what I am going to have again today at work. And some veggie leftovers are in the fridge now. I will eat those slowly while I cook again tonight (to calm down my stomach).

[Redhead65]

I almost forgot to mention that I ordered a linnen blouse in two sizes, and I know that the bigger size fitted me last autumn. I know that because they delivered the bigger size to me in the wrong color, and when I sent it back, the season was over - so I never got the right color. Good for me. Now I ordered that same size and a smaller size, and the smaller size fits perfectly. The bigger size looks like I have inherited it from my chubby sister. 

It is a bit off topic, but I received this jacket
http://www.deerberg.de/catalog/product/13183/1392661/damen/oberteile/strickjacken/deerberg-jacquard-strickjacke-natalie-zartbitter#
and I like it so much. I am contemplating on buying it in turquois color also, and at the same time I am asking myself whether I have gone nuts. Does anybody know this feeling?

In Europe in the past years we have had and still have lots of clothing in magenta and pink, and both colors match my red hair horribly.  So I am happy when I see different colors.